Nanci Griffith

Nanci Griffith's beautiful, Texas-tinged voice has won her a large and loyal following. She's also a top-flight writer, who started crafting songs before she reached her teens. She has said it was Buddy Holly and the Crickets who first sparked that interest. "They made me want to have my name in parentheses below the song." She got her wish with memorable compositions like "Love at the Five and Dime," "There's a Light Beyond These Woods (Mary Margaret)" and "It's a Hard Life." That said, Griffith won a Grammy Award for an album that was strictly covers - 1993's Other Voices, Other Rooms. Her most recent recording is Ruby's Torch (Rounder). Thom Jutz (guitar) joins Griffith for tonight's performance.

Robin & Linda Williams

Singing the music they love — be it bluegrass, folk, old-time, or acoustic country — Robin and Linda Williams have carved out a three-decade career that has taken them from Carnegie Hall to the Hollywood Bowl, the Grand Ole Opry to Austin City Limits, Music City Tonight to Mountain Stage. They've have written dozens of terrific songs, ones that have been covered by the likes of Emmylou Harris, Tom T. Hall, Tim & Mollie O'Brien, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Mary Black, Kathy Mattea, and The Seldom Scene. Robin and Linda's first album came out on a small Minnesota-based record label in 1975, the same year they debuted on A Prairie Home Companion. Recent recordings include Deeper Waters and The First Christmas Gift, both on Red House Records.

John Niemann

After playing electric bass in a high school rock 'n' roll band, John Niemann took up guitar, fiddle, mandolin and mandocello. He was a member of Peter Ostroushko's quartet The Mando Boys, and he spent seven years with the bluegrass group Stoney Lonesome.

J.T. Bates

J.T. Bates started playing drums when he was seven. By the time he was 15, he was sitting in with his dad's big band. Since then, he has backed up countless musicians, as well as working with his own bands — Fat Kid Wednesdays and Poor Line Condition.